Fifteen Months in Dixie; Or, My Personal Experience in Rebel PrisonsDay, W. W. (William Worthy)
History
Fifteen Months in Dixie; Or, My Personal Experience in Rebel Prisons
Day, W. W. (William Worthy)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Prisoners and prisons
Leaving here, I passed over a continuous battle field to Atlanta.
Official records show that from Chattanooga to Atlanta, inclusive,
more than 85,000 men were killed and wounded and more than 30,000
captured from Sept. 15, 1863, to Sept. 15, 1864. Arriving at
Andersonville, I found the same depot agent in charge that was here in
war times. His name is M. P. Suber; he is 76 years old, and has been
agent here 31 years. Geo. Disher, who was a conductor, and handled the
prisoners to and from the stockade, is still connected with the road.
I arrived at 2 o’clock, and after eating my first square meal in this
place (although I had been a boarder here 12 months), I started out to
hunt up my old stamping-ground. The stockade is about half a mile east
of depot. Here it was the 40,000 Northern soldiers were confined like
cattle in a pen. This prison was used from February, 1864, to April
1865—14 months.
The stockade was formed of strong pine logs, firmly planted in the
ground and about 20 feet high. The main stockade was surrounded by two
other rows of logs, the middle one 16 feet high, the outer one 12
feet. It was so arranged that if the inner stockade was forced by the
prisoners, the second would form another line of defense, inclosing 27
acres. The great stockade has almost entirely disappeared. It is only
here and there that a post or little group of posts are to be seen.
These have not all rotted away, but have been split into rails to
fence the grounds. The ground is owned by G. W. Kennedy, a colored
man. Only a small portion of the ground can be farmed. The swamp, in
which a man would sink to his waist, still occupies considerable
space. In crossing the little brackish stream I knelt down and took a
drink, without skimming off the graybacks, as of old. Passing on, not
far from the north gate I came to Providence Spring, that broke forth
on the 12th or 13th of August, 1864. The spring is surrounded by a
neat wood curbing, with a small opening on the lower side, through
which the water constantly flows. Not the slightest trace is left of
the dead-line.
The holes which the prisoners dug with spoons and tin cups for water
and to shelter from sun and rain are still to be seen, almost as
perfect as when dug. Also the tunnels that were made with a view to
escape are plain to be seen. Relics of prison life are still being
found—bits of pots, kettles, spoons, canteen-covers, and the like. I
had no trouble in locating my headquarters on the north slope. You can
imagine my feelings as I walked this ground over again after 24 years,
thinking of the suffering and sorrow of those dark days. Visions of
those living skeletons would come up before me with their haggard,
distressed countenances, and will follow me through life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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